King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

Actually, Joe Ga was also baffled at the time. He had seen cargo ships loaded with arms before, but he had never seen bulk civilian supplies like this and had no idea what the volume of dozens of cargo ships would be.

Moreover, he wasn't in Basra in the south and didn't have first-hand information.

When those supplies flooded into the Iraqi market like a torrential flood, the local market did indeed collapse.

International trade usually requires payment, but Boss Qiao didn't plan to ask for payment for the first batch because, after all, it wasn't his own money being spent; that money was a pre-paid output from oil fields.

Based on his simple values, he converted the goods into US Dollars at domestic China prices and gave them to the militia organizations that had signed agreements with him.

Little did he know that Chris's accounting method was completely different; this guy calculated the value of the goods based on local prices, real-time exchange rates, plus logistics and management fees.

The price differences and exchange rate differences between them led to a huge blunder.

The first to react was the Basra region. For the first time in Iraq, people took to the streets not to oppose the government but to protest against the blind actions of international charities that affected the interests of local merchants.

It was really bad luck for everyone, from the top to the bottom, from abroad to at home, from those selling luxury goods to those selling pancakes.

The representatives from the Basra government who negotiated with the merchants were actually asked to "sell the goods to them"!

By the time Basra conveyed this message back to Baghdad, an increasingly aware Boss Qiao was discussing countermeasures with a group of Iraqi intellectuals.

In the conference room, when Joe Ga heard about the demands from Basra, he almost laughed out loud.

It was clear that Iraq couldn't digest so much stuff, not because they couldn't, but because the first wave had come too strong and caught everyone off guard.

Businessmen in Iraq probably thought their own government was incompetent, so they decided to step in and regulate prices on their own, otherwise, they wouldn't be able to withstand the continuation of this situation.

Watching a group of intellectuals discussing in front of him whether it was appropriate to use taxes to regulate the market at this time, and whether legislation should prevent the import of certain products, Joe Ga felt an urge to burst into laughter.

Just three ships of grain had affected the grain prices in Basra, allegedly driving local farmers to the brink of collapse. It was hard to understand how fragile the Iraqi market was, proving itself exquisitely at this time.

At that moment, Joe Ga felt like a magnate, wondering who could have imagined that a blunder in his accounting would have such an effect?

Joe Ga presumed that at this point, the folks back in China were grinning ear to ear. Droves of stockpiled goods had been half-sold, half-given to 'Jia Liang Trading Company' to deal with, saving how many enterprises?

The subsequent demands of Iraq for goods more suited to their style would likely spur a part of the industry.

From this meal alone, they could eat for three years, and the derived benefits would be many times more than those from drilling for oil.

By then, it wasn't just the Iraqi government that couldn't sit still; even Steven was getting antsy.

The most important duty of an ambassador was "doing business," and seeing Joe Ga open up the Iraqi market in such a short period of time with such a forceful approach made him itch to get involved.

After all, promoting civilian trade was an essential duty of an ambassador. If he could grab a share of the Iraqi market, that would secure him support.

In such a critical period, any action that could bring support to Steven was not to be missed.

Wasn't it just about spending money? Was 'Jia Liang Trading' afraid of that?

Even if they sold at break-even prices plus shipping costs, Jia Liang Trading wouldn't suffer losses; the export tax rebate alone would yield a fortune.

The step of spending big money on global procurement had to be taken sooner or later; it was essentially like paying protection money, lest the current mode of operation eventually leads to sanctions.

Seeing Steven's eager gaze in the conference room, Joe Ga laughed heartily and handed Steven his younger brother's business card, saying, "Grain, meat products, medicine—300 million US dollars in procurement funds, stretched over three years, is that enough?"

Steven glanced at the business card, hugged Joe Ga's shoulder, and stretched his face forward as if to plant a kiss on him. After being pushed away with disgust by Joe Ga, he didn't take offense; instead, he excitedly said, "That's enough, let Liang go to Florida. My wife will arrange for someone to assist him in setting up an international trade company.

The senators and governor in Florida are Republicans, and also good friends of mine. I can fight for the maximum tax benefits and rebates for Liang.

And indeed, with this money being spent, we can bring sufficient support to the people we choose."

With these words, Steven looked at Joe Ga, who was all smiles, and reflected, "Hu Lang, I finally understand what you really want?

Iraq is an untapped gold mine—just one supply line through it, and you could influence the entire civilian market in Iraq.

Shit, none of us saw it coming!"

Joe Ga glanced around at the pale faces of the Iraqi officials in the room who looked like scholars. He smiled and said, "This supply line still needs us to finish off ISIS before it can settle down, and moreover, it's not mine; it belongs to all the Iraqi people.

They lacked supply channels at first. I provided them, and then turned four military bases into giant logistic centers.